Devsense

Today, we’re happy to announce that our finance app Momskalkylatorn has finally made its way to the App Store’s coveted Hall of Fame. Sale trends have been off the charts lately and thanks to that, Momskalkylatorn is now the most sold financial app in the Swedish App Store, furthermore hitting No. 2 world wide in the section of Bestselling financial apps.
We would like to thank all of you for supporting us with purchases and valuable feedback.

Collegio Cases, a collaborative effort between Bollman Production and Isolve for Norstedts Juridik hit the App Store early Wednesday afternoon.

Collegio Cases is a mobile app-based tool specifically made for teachers and school leaders. In a case-based and interactive environment, the app provides quick and clear answers to complex legal questions.

A couple of weeks ago, I came across this interesting essay which articulates everything I’ve pondered since 5th of October, 2011. I’ve pasted it in its entirety below.

If you felt uneasy through Apple’s keynote yesterday, you’re not alone. Something felt off. It wasn’t the features or hardware but the messaging.

”Bigger than bigger” was the tagline. When you hear it, you feel the cold, impersonal march of advancing technology. There’s a mechanical feel like touching a cold pane of steel.

What we want from Apple isn’t new technology. We want human warmth—a possibility of living a more fulfilled, meaningful life.

Let’s review parts of the keynote that felt weak and see if Steve can make it shine.

Insecurity

The keynote starts with a real-life Prezi presentation with little substance. The most damning line comes near the beginning:

People had an implicit understanding of this idea, but assuring people that ”It’s not about being first, but being ‘first with meaning'” reeks of being defensive.

Even with companies we respect confidence—not insecurity. A Jobsian Apple would have never said something so weak.

iPhone 6

There should have been one obvious, visceral reason to buy an iPhone 6.

A larger screen size alone is a weak proposition for the company’s flagship product. It’s derivative of existing products and doesn’t say anything differentiated from its competition.

The fact that it also contradicts Steve Jobs’ original intent for the iPhone, ”No one is going to buy a big phone”, squelches the voice of the product and makes it come across muddled and confused.

The trouble now is that the iPhone 6 must depend on its host of secondary features to make the sale:

”Better” in every way. Anonymous improvements under the hood.

Apple Pay. A NFC-based payment system.

Health features integrated into iOS 8.

A better camera

Instead of:Apple: We have the perfect product that does X.You: OH MY GOD, I NEED THIS.

We got:Apple: We have a product that does X, Y, Z and also A and B.You: Hmm, I guess I see how X might be useful. A and B are pretty cool too.

This happens when product creators play it safe. There’s a chance the single X might be wrong. The obvious solution is to be add enough features until there’s Something for Everyone.

With Steve Jobs, there was no fear. There was an unassailable, almost divine level of confidence that he had something you will love. We had a crisp, singular exactness to why we’ll be marching to the Apple Store after the keynote and buying that phone.

Apple Watch

Messy. Too many options. This is such a huge blunder.

Instead of a single, perfect product, we got a jumble of features and choices. There should have been just The One that people call ”The Jesus Watch” like the second coming.

It’s easy to fall in love with The One.

The iPod launched with The One. The iPhone launched with The One. The Apple Watch launched with The Sixty.

It’s hard enough to craft desire for a single identity. When asked to think of an Apple Watch, people don’t know what to picture. Can you imagine if the original iPhone in 2007 came with sixty customizable skins?

With The One, it would have been just one iconic watch face. One gorgeous wrist band. When someone mentioned Apple Watch, you would immediately visualize a very specific look.

It’s like picking your future husband or wife from a pool of sixty. Sixty different personalities, hobbies, quirks to learn. Sixty different people to fall in love with, compounded with the anxiety you might choose wrong.

You’d much rather have just the one. The Perfect One that you know is the best.

What I fear most is that the keynote tainted the watch category as a whole. There was one fundamental question that had to be answered: Why do I need it?

The presentation jumped straight into an introduction video and the resounding message was, ”The Apple watch is beautiful and personal.”

All you could do is sit there and ask, ”Yeah, that’s cool, but why?”

Instead of ”this cool new gadget”, the narrative should have been: ”an obvious interface that had been lacking”.

The prevailing impression now is that it’s a gadget for tech geeks. This may be salvageable in the future, much like the iPad gradually grew into its currently accepted form, but it’s certainly no iPhone launch.

Apple introducing the watch as ”The most personal device ever” doesn’t make it personal. Like love, it should be something your feel, not something you have to say out loud.

Side note: I’m not a fan of Apple using its iconic Apple logo in its product names. It dilutes The Apple. The Apple needs to stand alone in its full, innovative, storied glory, not hampered by taglines and definitely not alongside any single product name.

Here are the names of revolutionary personal devices: iPod, iPhone, iPad and now the iWatch.

iWatch would have been the right call.

Steve Jobs’ Keynote

Without further ado, let’s join Steve Jobs as he introduces the new iPhone and the rumored new wearable.

About Devsense

Devsense is where we publish our personal thoughts and takes on recent developments in the tech industry. We quote and discuss innovations as well as corporate undertaking in regards to brand capitalization. We do so, ultimately, in modest attempts to foreshadow future technological trends. This blog is also used to communicate company news partly unrelated to the above mentioned topics.